“Reform movements in education are notorious for their tendencies toward presentism–for painting the past in the darkest possible light in order to stress the urgent need for rapid and major transformation of the status quo”–Sedlak & Schlossman, 1987

Unfortunately, economic decline has opened policy windows for educational reformers to wreak havoc on public education, impacting all public school educators. In this environment, there are clear winners and losers; individuals who are losing during this time are recent college graduates. From the Economic Policy Institute:

As more and more teachers are cut from the public sector, public schools are left with a teacher shortage. During typical decline, student enrollment decreases which sparks school closings and teacher cuts. However during current decline public school enrollment is projected to increase nationally, by about 6%. Consequently, classroom student-teacher ratios are at risk of increasing if jobs continue to be slashed. More importantly, preservice and beginning teachers are being stranded on the sidelines without employment opportunities. I wonder how teacher certified college graduates have managed to stay current with educational trends if they have not found full time teaching jobs over the past 2-3 years? Will these recent graduates ever be able to find jobs in education if they haven’t found full time employment in the past two years? I suspect that college graduates who were aspiring to become teachers but who have no found full time employment have moved onto other professions. For public schools teachers who are in the profession, I predict the following will be important to keep in mind going forward:

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